I believe with everything in life, you’re always either moving forwards or backwards. You’re never standing still. And if you are standing still, other people are passing you by, so technically you’re going backwards.

So why is having forward momentum important? Well, a few reasons:

You’re happier and in a better mood when you feel like you’re making progress on something that’s important to you

Forward momentum creates more forward momentum (think about a snowball rolling down a hill)

Other people see your progress and want to experience that in their lives too, so you end up motivating those around you

But how do you achieve forward momentum constantly? I believe the answer comes down to a few minutes of concentrated focus at the beginning of every day, as well as the right metrics to measure your forward momentum.

For me, I start every day by asking myself:

What am I doing today to make progress on each of my goals?

How can I get/keep forward momentum on that?

How can I track that momentum?

Right now my primary focuses are:

Launching a new company

Hiring for various roles (3 at the moment)

Planning a huge family vacation

Getting below 15% body fat

So when I wake up in the morning, I “check in” with myself and ask the questions above. Here’s an example for getting below 15% body fat:

What am I doing today to make progress on getting below 15% body fat? I have a 1pm heavy lifting workout scheduled in my calendar for today, my meals are ready to go and are designed around my macros and caloric intake. I’ll also drink nothing but water and Organifi.

How can I get/keep forward momentum on that? Every workout I’ll either lift heavier or reduce time between sets, plus I know ahead of time if I have any lunch/dinner meetings, what’s on the menu and whether or not I will indulge (depending on if it’s an off day).

Nothing too complicated right? By doing this every day for the goals that are important to me, I almost guarantee I have constant forward momentum.

The key with forward momentum is to be short signed. Plan day-by-day. Don’t think about next month, quarter or year. Aim to string multiple days of forward momentum together. That soon becomes months and years.

If you feel like you’re going backwards or aren’t achieving your goals at a rate that you want to, give this simple daily process a try. I’ve been using it for years and it’s never failed me.

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About Mitchell Harper

Mitch is a 7x company founder, advisor and investor. He is best known as the co-founder of BigCommerce. His companies have generated over $200,000,000 in total revenue and he is currently building an online education company and a SaaS company.